Saturday, September 02, 2006

Ok, more to come on the game but just wanted to get a thread up here so folks can post their comments and thoughts on today's game.

As for me, uh, that...that was very average. Yeah, I know it was the first game, but it was also Vandy with a new QB. Saw some good but a lot more "bad" that will haunt us against good teams with a pulse.

Let's all jump off the ledge now since we only won by 20. It was the first game of the season. Basically, you just want to win and not get injured. It appears we accomplished that.The defense was solid. Granted, we weren't facing the best offense, but there was no screwing around, no allowing long 3rd down conversions, and most importantly, we were aggressive. The D didn't allow the running QB to break out, and blitzed - BLITZED! - with a lead in the 4th quarter. Oh, yeah, those blitzes led to failed drives.The offense wasn't that great. Hart was solid as usual, and I thought Henne was good, showing a little mobility, even looking off a receiver a couple of times, and showing nice touch on the TD to Ecker. But the drops were inexcusable as was the fumble by Grady that helped keep this one close.The special teams need the most improvement. Coverage was OK, but the return game was non-existent. The roughing the punter was horrible. And I'm not going to talk about the fat kicker. Overall it was an average game. Nothing to get too excited about, nothing to get too worried about. Unless you're a typical Michigan fan. Then it's time to play Chicken Licken, because that's what we do.

harry hasselhoff raises a good point. There's no way in the first couple of games that we're going to show much on offense. That was obvious today. Although I doubt the drops and Grady's fumble were part of the plan to get the ND defense overconfident.

Defense looked great but it is too early tell. Obviously 2 weeks from now in South Bend will be a key determiner.

As for the offense, even if DeBord is keeping it in the bag, Henne did not look sharp and appears to have not improved in 2 years. Based on this, I continue to believe that Loeffler is not the "wunderkid" coach everybody claims he is.

O-Line also struggled, and I'm pinning that on Gittleson.

A lot of work lies ahead. Fortunately, it is a long season, and I'd rather have a great defense than offense (see UM '97 and tOSU '02)

If we were coming off a 1, 2, or even a 3 loss season, I might feel a little more comfortable with our performance.

As it is, I don't think Michigan fans can be blamed for feeling worried about this performance. The last few seasons, the repeated losses in early road games, mean that Carr doesn't get as long of a leash.

You can count on one hand the number of teams that have more athletes than Michigan. Let's see some results.

A couple more reasons to quit your complaining:1. We actually threw the ball (for a TD) when we got the chance to put the nail in the coffin, instead of running it which is what everyone was expecting.2. It was the first game. What do you learn from the first game? NOTHING!3. Did any of you actually fear at any time that we weren't going to win that game? We were sloppy but still won rather easily.OK, go back to the complaining, Michigan fans.

The score was 27 - 7 but it could have very easily been 42 -7. A key turnover and a reception that got overturned (looked like a catch to me) and we would have all been happy. As it is they still seem like they are plagued with not being able to finish when they get within striking distance of the end zone.

I agree w/ Benny, nothing to get too excited/worried about. I was disappointed that Forcier didn't get more than 1 snap and that Hart needed 31 carries, I would have liked to seen more of Minor/Brown if he is going to burn both of their redshirts.

Running game looks fantastic. Grady needs to be relegated to 3 and short carries. From what little I saw of Minor, he should be carrying the ball more.

If I see another dropped ball, I'm gonna scream.

Henne looked OK, but you could definitely tell it was the first game of the season.

Positives: When we threw the deep ball, it was in stride and accurate (ok so I only had one for comparison, but 1 for 1 is still ok). The run blocking on the left side won't be stopped until someone commits 5 bodies over there. The defense was playing faster (almost too fast at times with overpursuit being the largest problem in my eyes). The biggest improvement you see is between week 1 and 2. Hopefully we'll all be wowed next weekend. If not... well read below.

Negatives: It just seemed the offense was out of rhythm when they weren't running with Hart. The pass blocking was atrocious at times (with the exception of Long). Running QB's are still going to be a problem, but probably not as big of one as in previous years. The wide receivers should invest in stickum before next Saturday. If we don't improve by next weekend, it's gonna be a LOOOOOONG season.... again.

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